Retractable barrier

ABSTRACT

A retractable barrier ( 10 ) includes an elongate housing ( 12 ) having a first end ( 14 ), a second end ( 16 ), and a slotted opening ( 18 ) extending between the first end ( 14 ) and the second end ( 16 ). A substrate support ( 20 ) is rotatably mounted within the housing ( 12 ). A barrier substrate ( 22 ) is provided of a height substantially equal to a length of the slotted opening ( 18 ). The barrier substrate ( 22 ) has an attachment end ( 26 ) and a free end ( 24 ). The barrier substrate ( 22 ) is rolled onto the substrate support ( 20 ) with the attachment end ( 26 ) being attached to the substrate support ( 20 ) and the free end ( 24 ) extending through the slotted opening ( 18 ) of the housing ( 12 ) to permit a selected quantity of the barrier substrate ( 22 ) to be extended from the housing ( 12 ). The barrier substrate ( 22 ) is configurable into non-linear configurations by the selectively attaching poles ( 28 ) where a change of direction occurs. A crank ( 32 ) is provided for rotating the substrate support ( 20 ), thereby retracting the barrier substrate ( 22 ) back into the housing ( 12 ).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a retractable barrier

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

United States patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,144 (Venti 1997) and U.S. Pat.No. 5,690,317 (Sandsburg 1997) disclose retractable barriers. The Ventireference was developed as a pet barrier, to keep a pet out of selectedareas of ones home. The Sandsburg reference was developed as a childsafety barrier, to keep a child away from stairs and other hazardousareas of ones home. Both the Venti and Sandsburg references are onlycapable of being deployed in a short span linear application, such asacross a doorway.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,819 (Kane 1991) discloses a system for handling andsupporting flexible material used in the erection of barricades. TheKane reference uses pole receiving tubes and stiffing straps. With theaddition of spring clips, the stiffening straps can a dual purpose ofalso supporting poles. U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,792 (Camara 2000) discloses aportable barrier. The Camara reference uses a pinch and sew procedure toform sleeves for supporting poles.

The international search report under the patent cooperation treatyidentified as prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,819 (Kane 1991), whichdiscloses flexible fencing dispensed from a roll.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

What is required is a retractable barrier which is capable of beingdeployed in non-linear applications.

According to the present invention there is provided a retractablebarrier which includes an elongate housing having a first end, a secondend, and a slotted opening extending between the first end and thesecond end. A substrate support is rotatably mounted within the housing.A barrier substrate is provided of a height substantially equal to alength of the slotted opening. The barrier substrate has an attachmentend and a free end. The barrier substrate is rolled onto the substratesupport with the attachment end being attached to the substrate supportand the free end extending through the slotted opening of the housing topermit a selected quantity of the barrier substrate to be extended fromthe housing. Several poles are provided along with means to attach thepoles at spaced intervals along the barrier substrate in a supportingposition. The barrier substrate is configurable into non-linearconfigurations by the selectively attaching the poles where a change ofdirection occurs. Means is provided for rotating the substrate support,thereby retracting the barrier substrate back into the housing.

The retractable barrier, as described above, can be configured to suitvirtually any shape, merely by a selective positioning of the poles.

Although there are various ways of attaching the poles in a supportingposition to the barrier substrate, such as by means of clamps and otherhardware. It is preferred that the barrier substrate be provided with aplurality of openings (preferably slots) arranged in parallel rows andcolumns. The poles are attached to the barrier substrate by weaving eachof the poles through the openings of one of the columns. The use ofcolumns is less expensive and there is no danger of the loss ofnecessary attachment hardware.

It is envisaged that the retractable barrier will always be used withpoles. Even more beneficial results may, therefore, be obtained when thehousing has a plurality of receptacles adapted for storing the poles.One way of configuring the receptacles is to have a first flangepositioned at the first end and a second flange positioned at the secondend of the housing, with the receptacles being positioned in the firstflange and the second flange.

Although other means may be used to rotate the substrate support, suchas a biasing spring, it is preferred that the means for rotating thesubstrate support be a crank. A crank is viewed as being more durableand reliable in this application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the invention will become more apparent fromthe following description in which reference is made to the appendeddrawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and arenot intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to theparticular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a retractable barrier constructed inaccordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed front elevation view of a housing for theretractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detailed front elevation view of a substrate support for theretractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a housing for the retractable barrierillustrated in FIG. 1, having receptacles for pole storage.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the retractable barrier illustrated inFIG. 1, showing use as a police barricade.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the retractable barrier illustrated inFIG. 1, showing use as a fire department barricade.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the retractable barrier illustrated inFIG. 1, showing use as a maintenance barricade.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a updated embodiment of the retractablebarrier.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the retractable barrierillustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a pole.

FIG. 11 a-g are perspective views of a step by step installationsequence for the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 12 is a detailed perspective view of a clip used to tension theretractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a joining clip.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the joining clip joining twosubstrates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment, a retractable barrier generally identified byreference numeral 10, will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1through 7.

Structure and Relationship of Parts:

Referring to FIG. 1, retractable barrier 10 has an elongate housing 12.Referring to FIG. 2, elongate housing 12 has a first end 14, a secondend 16 and a slotted opening 18 extending between first end 14 andsecond end 16. Referring to FIG. 3, substrate support 20 is rotatablymounted within housing 12. Referring to FIG. 4, a barrier substrate 22is provided which has a height that is substantially equal to slottedopening 18 and has a free end 24 that extends through slotted opening18. Referring to FIG. 3, barrier substrate 22 has an attachment end 26that is attached and rolled onto to substrate support 20. Substratesupport 20 with barrier substrate 22 is housed within elongate housing12 such that a selected quantity of barrier substrate 22 may extend fromelongate housing 12 as shown in FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 1, retractablebarrier 10 includes poles 28. In the illustrated embodiment, three poles28 are shown. It will be appreciated that other combinations of poles 28and elongate bodies 12 may be used as illustrated in FIGS. 5 through 7.Referring to FIG. 1, barrier substrate 22 is adapted with a plurality ofopenings 30 arranged in parallel horizontal rows and vertical columns.Each pole 28 is oriented within select openings 30 at a select positionalong barrier substrate 22. This is done by weaving each of poles 28through openings 30 of one of the columns. Referring to FIG. 3, a crank32 is secured to substrate support 20. Referring to FIG. 4, actuation ofcrank 32 rotates substrate support 20 and, in turn, retracts barriersubstrate 22 within elongate housing 12. Referring further to FIG. 4,elongate housing 12 is also adapted with a first flange 34 at first end14 and a second flange 36 at second end 16. First flange 34 and secondflange 36 have several receptacles 38 adapted to receive a pole 28 thatis oriented in a stored position between a selected receptacle 38 atfirst flange 34 and a corresponding receptacle 38 at second flange 36.

Operation:

The use and operation of retractable barrier 10 will now be describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 through 7. Referring to FIG. 1, where a userdesires to define or restrict access and egress, elongate housing 12 ofretractable barrier 10 is positioned at one point along a chosenperimeter 40. Referring to FIGS. 5 through 7, upon determining theconfiguration and needs of a site 42, a user selects the number of poles28 that at are required. Referring to FIG. 4, each pole 28 that isrequired is removed from first flange 34 and second flange 36. Free end24 of barrier substrate 22 is extended from elongate body 12 throughslotted opening 18 until the required length of barrier substrate 22 isextended off of substrate support 20. Referring to FIG. 1, each pole 28is woven within any given vertical column of openings 30 at a selectpoint in perimeter 40 such that barrier substrate 22 is fully supportedat that point and defines the desired configuration of site 42 as shownin FIGS. 5 through 7. Three possible sites: a police investigation site,a fire site and a work site are illustrated respectively. It will beappreciated that other sites may be defined or configured. Poles 28 andhousing 12 may rest upon bases which make them stable and selfsupporting or may have a lower ground anchor which penetrates the groundand anchors them.

Structure and Relationship of Parts of Most Recent Version:

There will now be described the most recent version of retractablebarrier 10 with reference to FIGS. 8 through 14. Referring to FIG. 9,substrate support 20 has a an end cap 45 known as a “castle cap” with aplurality of receptacles 46 spaced about a 360 degree circumference. Acrank handle 48 is provided on a crank mounting cap 44 that isnon-rotatably secured to and rotates with rotatable substrate support20. Crank handle 48 is attached to crank mounting cap 44 by a dowel 49.Crank handle 48 has an operative position and a locking position. In thelocking position, as shown in FIG. 8, a cam 50 carried by crank handle48 engages one of the receptacles 46 on end cap 45 to non-rotatably fixsubstrate support 20 to housing 12. A knob 51 on the opposite end ofhandle 48 from cam 50 is included to make cranking easier, and is tuckedaway in end cap 45 when handle 48 is in the locking position. Referringto FIG. 9, housing 12 has a bottom cap 52 with a threaded male member 54adapted to screw into a threaded female member of a weighted base 58(seen in FIG. 8). Housing 12 is adapted to receive a shaft 73. Shaft 73is attached to crank handle 48 on the top, such that turning crankhandle 48 rotates shaft 73. Shaft 73 is adapted to have substrate 22wound about it. Substrate guides 75 are included on the top and bottomfor guiding substrate 22 as it is pulled out or wound back up on shaft73. The various components are held together using fasteners, such asscrews 59. Referring now to FIG. 11 b, substrate 22 has openings 30 inthe form of vertical pockets as shown positioned at regular spacedintervals which are adapted to accommodate poles 28. Referring to FIG.10, each pole 28 has a receptacle 62 adapted to receive a lighting orsignage support (not shown). Receptacle 62 may be covered by end cap 61when not in use. Pole 28 is attached to a base 63 by a male member 65inserted into pole 28 and adapted to screw into base 63. Referring toFIG. 11 e, once poles are installed and erected, tensioning clips 64 aresecurable to each pole 28 to tension barrier substrate 22. Referring toFIG. 12, each tensioning clip, 64 includes a body 66 that has a top 68and a bottom 70. There is an open ended receptacle 71 at top 68 of body66 for receiving pole 28, and a resilient clip 72 at the bottom forclipping onto pole 28 over substrate 22. Tensioning clip 64 is installedby inserting the top of pole 28 into receptacle 68, and pushing clip 72onto pole 68, such that substrate 22 is pulled tight between poles 28 asthe sides of clip 64 hold substrate 22 against pole 28.

Operation of Most Recent Version:

Referring now to FIGS. 11 a-g, the preferred method of erecting abarrier will be discussed. Referring to FIG. 11 a, housing 12 isprovided sitting on a self supporting base 58 with retractable barriersubstrate 22 housed within housing 12, where retractable barriersubstrate 22 has pole receiving openings 30 at selected intervals alongsubstrate 22. A selected length of barrier substrate 22 is pulled fromhousing 12. Referring to FIG. 8, the length of barrier substrate 22 islocked when cam 50 of handle 48 is received in one of receptacles 46 ofend cap 45 of housing 12. Referring to FIG. 11 b, barrier substrate 22is then laid on a ground surface. Referring to FIG. 11 c poles 28, thathave self supporting weighted bases 58, are inserted into selected polereceiving pockets 30 with poles 28 being left in a substantiallyhorizontal position. Pockets may be formed in many different ways, forexample, by stitching, welding, etc. Referring to FIG. 11 d, the pole 28positioned farthest from housing 12 is stood up, and the movement ofstanding up pole 28 creates a movement to a vertical position of barriersubstrate 22 resulting in all of the other poles 28 to standing in avertical orientation. Referring to FIG. 11 e, tensioning clips 64 areinstalled on each pole 28 to remove any slack from barrier substrate 22between poles 28. Referring to FIG. 9, barrier substrate 22 is secure byless than four fasteners 77 to shaft 73. Washers 79 may also be used toprovide a better hold on substrate 22. Other ways of securing substrate22 will be apparent, for example, by providing a slit in shaft 73 andfolding substrate 22 around a resilient piece of material that is thensecurely fit into the slit. Referring to FIG. 13, in order to form abarrier that is longer than is possible with a single retractablebarrier 10, it may be desired to secure substrates 22 from two differenthousings 12 together. This may be done by a joining clip 76. Joiningclip 76 comprises a body 78 with apertures 80 at each end that areadapted to fit over the end of each pole 28 supporting substrates 22, asshown in FIG. 14. It will be appreciated that joining clip 76 may joinretractable barriers 10 is various ways pole 28 to pole 28, housing 12to housing 12, housing 12 to pole 28.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in itsnon-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included,but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to anelement by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibilitythat more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearlyrequires that there be one and only one of the elements.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may bemade to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as hereinafter defined in the Claims.

1. A retractable barrier (10), comprising: an elongate housing (12)having a first end (14), a second end (16), and a slotted opening (18)extending between the first end (14) and the second end (16); asubstrate support (20) rotatably mounted within the housing (12); abarrier substrate (22) of a height substantially equal to a length ofthe slotted opening (18), the barrier substrate (22) having anattachment end (26) and a free end (24), the barrier substrate (22)being rolled onto the substrate support (20) with the attachment end(26) being attached to the substrate support (20) and the free end (24)extending through the slotted opening (18) of the housing (12); severalpoles (28) being provided along with means to attach the poles at spacedintervals along the barrier substrate (22) in a supporting position, thebarrier substrate (22) being configurable into non-linear configurationsby the selectively attaching the poles (28) where a change of directionoccurs, the means to attach the poles (28) to the barrier substrate (22)consisting of a plurality of pole receiving openings (30) through thebarrier substrate (22); and means being provided for rotating thesubstrate support, thereby retracting the barrier substrate (22) backinto the housing (12).
 2. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1,wherein means are provided to lock the substrate support in a selectedrotational position with a selected quantity of barrier substrate (22)extended from the housing (12) and the housing (12) forming part of thebarrier.
 3. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein thehousing (12) has a plurality of receptacles (38) adapted for storing thepoles (28).
 4. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 3, wherein afirst flange (34) is positioned at the first end (14) and a secondflange (36) is positioned at the second end (16) of the housing (12),the receptacles (38) being positioned in the first flange (34) and thesecond flange (36).
 5. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1,wherein the means for rotating the substrate support (20) being a crank(32).
 6. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein thebarrier substrate (22) displays a message.
 7. The retractable barrier asdefined in claim 2, wherein an end cap is fixed at the first end of thehousing, the end cap having a plurality of receptacles spaced about a360 degree circumference, a crank handle being provided on a crankmounting on the rotatable substrate support, the crank handle having anoperative position and a locking position, in the locking position, acam carried by the crank handle engages one of the receptacles on theend cap to non-rotatably fix the substrate support to the housing. 8.The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein the substrate hasvertical pockets positioned at regular spaced intervals which areadapted to accommodate poles.
 9. The retractable barrier as defined inclaim 1, wherein each pole has a receptacle adapted to receive one of alighting or signage support.
 10. The retractable barrier as defined inclaim 1, wherein the housing has a bottom cap with a threaded malemember adapted to screw into a threaded female member of a weightedbase.
 11. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, whereintensioning clips are securable to each pole to tension the barriersubstrate.
 12. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 11, whereineach tensioning clip is comprised of: a body; an open ended receptacleat the top of the body adapted to receive the top of a pole; and aresilient clip adapted to receive the pole covered by the substrate. 13.The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein two barriersubstrates are joined by a joining clip.
 14. The retractable barrier asdefined in claim 13, wherein the joining clip comprises a body having anaperture at each end, where each aperture is adapted to join one of poleto pole, housing to housing or housing to pole.
 15. A method of erectinga barrier, comprising the steps of: providing a housing sitting on aself supporting base with a retractable barrier substrate housed withinthe housing, the retractable barrier substrate having pole receivingopenings at selected intervals along the substrate; pulling a selectedlength of barrier substrate from the housing, locking the barriersubstrate to the housing and laying the barrier substrate on a groundsurface; inserting poles having self supporting weighted bases inselected ones of the pole receiving pockets with the poles being left ina substantially horizontal position; standing up a pole positionedfarthest from the housing, the movement of standing up the pole creatinga movement to a vertical position of the barrier substrate resulting inall of the poles standing in a vertical orientation.
 16. The retractablebarrier as defined in claim 1, wherein the barrier substrate is secureby less than four fasteners to a shaft.